Runners Give It Team Effort

Dolphins Ninth in Girls Rated Race, Boys 33rd in Sweepstakes at Woodbridge XC Classic

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Palisades High’s boys and girls cross country teams got a chance to compete on a national stage Saturday night in the 43rd annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic and the Dolphins shined bright under the lights  of the winding three-mile course at Great Park in Irvine.

The varsity girls were entered in the rated division, the second tier in the entire two-day meet, and placed ninth out of 32 teams with 348 points and a cumulative time of 1:30:56.0. El Toro was first with 90 points as its five fastest runners were all among the top 25.

Setting the pace for the Dolphins was freshman Maya Hively, who clocked 17:39.2 to take 31st by one-tenth of a second ahead of Conifier junior Gianna Cicora. Sophomore Zoey Morris, the reigning City Section Division I champion, was Palisades’ second finisher in 17:46.3—a whopping 1:06.2 improvement over her  effort in the Blue Varsity Girls B race last fall when she was 27th. Junior Louisa Mammen, the Dolphins’ swiftest runner at Woodbridge one year ago (20 seconds faster and 10 spots in front of Morris) was Palisades’ third finisher this time around, placing 53rd in 17:57.0.

Sophomore Gabriella Gilyard was 115th in the field of 217, posting a time of 18:44.9, and freshman Eleanor Mammen was six places behind in 18:48.6. Junior Daila Harinck was another six spots and six seconds back in 18:56.2 and 10th-grader Kendal Shaver rounded out the lineup as the seventh runner, finishing in 19:50.0.

Erika Kirk of Vista Murrieta won in 16:33.0 and El Toro’s Gweneth Williams took second in a race in which 56 girls broke 18 minutes.

The last girls race of the night was a sizzler as Rylee Blade of Corona Santiago shattered the meet record by 12.2 seconds, blazing to victory in 15:20.2   to top a field that included defending champion Jane Hedengren of Timpview High in Provo, UT and 2022 winner Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura, who finished fourth and fifth this year, respectively. Chiara Dailey of La Jolla was second, nearly eight full seconds behind the winner.

Also placing ninth in the team standings was Palisades’ Blue Junior/Senior girls team, led by Mar Henderson-Maclennan, who was 12th overall in  19:29.5. Fellow juniors Tallulah Younger (21:32.3) and Maya Bhasin (21:45.3) were 88th and 100th, respectively.

The Dolphins’ sophomore girls placed third with 97 points, trailing only Corona Santiago (59) and Trabuco Hills (73). Ninth-grader Amelia Halpin was Palisades’ leading lady, coming in 16th in 20:12.2. Seven spots behind was sophomore Vitalijo Schafer (20:2.9) and three spots later was freshman Hanna Sadzik (20:28.2).      

For the boys, Palisades took 10th in the Blue (Division I) sophomore division with a score of 413. The Dolphins’pacesetter was freshman Justin Funk (23rd in 16:22.7), followed by twin brother Ethan (37th in   16:34.3 and sophomore Thomas Butler (96th in 17:14.1) in a large field of 517 runners.

In the Blue Senior race, Palisades placed 15th out of 27 teams, led by junior Jackson Taylor (18th in  16:13.2), senior Basel Thierry (37th in 16:33.5) and junior Lajus Collins (80th in 17:10.7).

The last race of the, going off just before 10 p.m., was the Doug Speck Boys Sweepstakes and Palisades was making its second straight appearance in the elite division after placing 20th in 2023 with a collective time of 1:16:20.5. The Dolphins clocked 1:16:41.3 Saturday but finished 33rd out of 36 teams in a race dominated by out-of-state schools. Herriman of Utah won its third straight Woodbridge crown with 58 points while Owen Powell of Mercer Island, WA.edged Josiah Tostenson from Crater, OR by two-tenths of a second to take the individual title in a record 13:30.3. Junior Blake Sigworth paced the Dolphins (88th  in 14:45.0), followed by senior Owen Lewicky (110th in 14:54.0) and Zachary Cohen (173rd in 15:18.8).